At its world premiere, Fiat’s new concept car, the Fiat Trepiuno, was a pleasant surprise to public and professionals alike, and proved to be a great success.
Created by the Fiat Style Center, the Fiat Trepiuno represents a “return to the future”, being a modern reworking of the cars of the 1950s that symbolised the first explosion in automobile use in Italy.
In the same way the new VW Beetle and the Mini have a visual link to their ancestors the Trepiuno looks remarkably like the rear engine Fiat 500 Nuova (often called the Fiat Bambino) that was built between 1957 and 1975. But that’s where the similarity ends as this new concept car is all high tech.
Fiat Trepiuno conveys the idea of compactness, with its side comprised of several overlapping layers and its shell-like roof that, on paper, is much smaller than the side. Its unusual proportions, together with certain visual features, give the prototype a “friendly” look, but at the same time, also a clear feeling of solidity and sturdiness: very bright when viewed from the side, with a very short, wraparound hood and an “omega”-style ribbing that boldly fills the front of the car.
All these hints of the past have something in common: all the elements recreated on the Fiat Trepiuno were analysed and considered necessary on a modern car, albeit with a careful review of functions and materials. For example, the rear lights operate with LCD screens, which “graphically” display the indications being given; the famous cloth roof found on certain super-compact cars of the past has been transformed into the Sky Dome, which together with the windscreen offers a linear, bright view of the roof.
Lastly, the rear of the Fiat Trepiuno recreates the concept of a tailgate with higher loading threshold, which incorporates the rear window and roof spoiler, a very practical solution for loading and unloading everyday objects.
The passenger cabin is spacious and airy, and comes with front seats in comfortable, elastic polyurethane, without reducing volume and space. It is this very idea of space that is behind the name given to the concept car: Trepiuno actually denotes the possibility of accommodating tall people in the rear seat, by sliding the front seat forward towards the dashboard, which “shrinks” to leave free space. The Fiat prototype practically links the luggage compartment to the dashboard, with a series of transformations that are possible depending on the car’s different uses – 2 seats, 3 seats, 3+1 emergency seat – representing a concept of total interior reconfigurability.
The dashboard is innovative in terms of both form and function: it has two drawer containers and a central console with touch-sensitive controls, producing a luminous signal that follows the user’s movements and receives inputs. On the console, the user can touch a liquid crystal display that brings up another touch-sensitive multi-function menu, placed between the front seats, which can be used intuitively, without taking your eyes of the road.
Trepiuno therefore has an original design that recalls forms and styles of the past, but with a modern feel: a mix of the past and future, the result of stylistic and constructive research that gets away from the mass-produced feel to become a unique object.
A new Fiat 500 based on the Trepiuno concept was debuted in March 2007 with sales due to start late 2007. The new Fiat 500 will share its chassis and mechanicals with the next generation Ford Ka.
